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Clive Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum is a truly iconic bit of 80s computer design, and readers of a certain age will have the opportunity to relive a youth spent palpating its rubber keys this November, when it returns to homes – with a bunch of included classic games and modern niceties thrown in – courtesy of Retro Games, the team behind this year’s Atari 400 Mini.

The Spectrum (as Retro Games is calling its new bit of old-school-inspired hardware) takes its design cues from the unforgettable 48K, with its rubber keys and iconic rainbow stripe – but, as per VGC, its innards are a little more multi-generational, capable of emulating all the classic Spectrum variants: the 16K, 48K, Spectrum+ (AKA my first home computer), and 128K.

Notably, The Spectrum’s rubber keybo…

It looks like people are quite keen to get their hands on the next instalment in the Nikki series.
As shared on social media platform X, over 12 million of us have already pre-registered for Infinity Nikki, the “cosy open-world adventure” follow-up to the highly successful mobile series of dress up games.
Infinity Nikki is helmed by PaperGames with Kentaro Tominaga – whose name you may recognise from his days at Nintendo – leading the project. Tominaga’s other credits include designer on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and director of its Expansion Pass, to name but two.

Infinity Nikki – Gamescom 2024 Trailer

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Xbox is expanding its accessibility range with new accessories, including the Xbox Adaptive Joystick and 3D printable thumbstick toppers.

The Xbox Adaptive Joystick, due out next year, is a singular joystick with two triggers and four face buttons, essentially acting as half a controller that can be used with either hand, or other body parts.

The buttons are completely remappable using the same UI as the existing Xbox Adaptive Controller. Indeed, flexibility is key to all of Xbox’s accessibility accessories: the joystick can be used directly with the console, or in conjunction with the Adaptive Controller or Xbox controller. It can also be mounted if unable to be held.

Introducing the Xbox Adaptive Joystick

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A new report has alleged that Roblox misleads investors by falsely reporting player numbers, and has highlighted yet more examples of inappropriate – and allegedly, illegal – content being shared via the platform.

The report, published by short-selling firm Hindenberg Research (via Wall St Journal), claims that daily player counts and engagement statistics have been inflated by Roblox since 2021, based on interviews with multiple former employees at the company.

A Roblox spokesperson has responded to the report to say it was “simply misleading”.

More damning still are a fresh set of examples that appear to show Roblox’s content moderation system failing to keep children safe – and to stop adult content circulating.

“We firmly believe that Roblox is a safe…

Having successfully made its way onto iOS and Android devices through a combination of ceaseless legal activity and new EU regulations, the Epic Games Store is ready to start tempting users away from Apple and Google’s digital storefronts – and, in news that’s unlikely to surprise anyone, it plans to do so by giving away free games.

Weekly freebies – alongside subsidised sales vouchers and a rewards programme – have long been Epic’s preferred method of attracting customers to its glacially evolving store on PC, after its various exclusivity deals elicited more frustration that jubilation from players. So news that it plans to repeat the strategy on mobile isn’t much of a revelation.

But it’s now been officially confirmed by Epic Games Store general manager St…

Epic Games has offered a few more details on its under-wraps Disney project, which will connect into Fortnite.

The mysterious project was announced earlier this year alongside a $1.5bn investment by Disney into Epic Games, strengthening the already-close bond between the two companies.

Fortnite features dozens of Disney skins, including characters from Star Wars, Marvel and now Pixar franchises. In the coming weeks, Disney animation villains such as Cruella De Vil and Maleficient will also join the game’s ranks.

All of these skins can be used without restriction: Spider-Man and Luke Skywalker can team up to headshot enemies with shotguns and uzis before doing the floss dance to celebrate. But it sounds like this won’t be the case with Epic Games’ Disney-…

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is set to make its Steam debut, marking the start of Ubisoft’s full return to Valve’s PC storefront.
Last month, Ubisoft announced its new releases are set to launch day one on Steam, starting with Assassin’s Creed Shadows on 14th February next year.
But, before that, Steam users will also be able to get their hands on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, which was initially released back in October last year across consoles and PC (but not via Steam).

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Following last week’s shock announcement Nintendo is suing Palworld maker Pocketpair for the infringement of “multiple patents rights”, an IP expert has claimed it’s “exceedingly plausible” Nintendo crafted its patent applications specifically to target Palworld.

Writing for Gamesindustry.biz, Andrew Velzen – an associate at law firm MBHB – started by summarising some of the intellectual property discoveries legal experts have made so far since word of Nintendo’s lawsuit surfaced last week, starting with four key patent applications highlighted by Japanese attorney Kiyoshi Kurihara.

These patent claims, explains Velzen, all relate to different aspects of catching and/or riding “combat characters, “airborne rideable characters”, and “field characters” using “…

Ubisoft has announced a full return to Steam, with all its new releases set to launch day one on Valve’s storefront starting with Assassin’s Creed Shadows on 14th February next year.

Assassin’ Creed: Shadows will be the first Ubisoft game to get a day one release on Steam since Starlink: Battle for Atlas all the way back in April 2019. Since then, the publisher has opted to launch its PC titles on its own storefront and the Epic Games Store.

In fact, for a long time, new Ubisoft titles weren’t available on Steam at all, but that changed in December 2022, when Assassin’s Creed Valhalla made the jump to Valve’s platform – some two years after its initial release. Anno 1800 and Roller Champions followed, and the experiment was seemingly a success; in the years …

UPDATE 26/9/24: A fresh deep dive into Nintendo’s mysterious new wireless gadget has offered up more clues as to what it might be used for.
Tech channel Remote Play Gaming has published analysis by a wireless industry expert who takes a look at the documentation provided by Nintendo for the device. Most interesting are the tests that have been done to approve the gizmo’s wireless transmitter for use close to the body.

The results here suggest Nintendo’s under-wraps creation is some kind of body sensor designed to communicate with a secondary device (and worn on or close to the body itself, rather than mounted on someone’s head). It sounds a lot like a movement-tracking accessory – though again, as below, there’s nothing yet to specifically link it with Switch 2.…